Reading at St Martin's

Reading is at the heart of our English curriculum at St Martin’s. We aim to develop fluent, confident readers who read widely, understand what they read and develop a lifelong love of books.

Our carefully sequenced curriculum develops the connected skills of word reading, fluency and comprehension. Pupils learn to decode accurately, read with increasing automaticity and expression, develop rich vocabulary and use their knowledge of language and the wider world to understand increasingly ambitious texts.

From Year 2 to Year 6, pupils take part in four whole-class reading sessions each week. Through explicit teaching, book talk, vocabulary development, drama and critical discussion, pupils learn to explore texts deeply and explain their ideas confidently.

Teachers assess reading regularly so that gaps are identified and addressed quickly. Pupils who have not yet secured accurate and fluent reading receive targeted teaching and practice. Purposeful adaptations ensure that pupils with SEND, those learning English as an additional language and pupils facing other barriers can access the same ambitious curriculum.

Our diverse collection of fiction, non-fiction and poetry balances classic literature with contemporary works representing a wide range of voices, cultures and perspectives. Reading is also developed across the wider curriculum, helping pupils build knowledge, understand subject-specific vocabulary and prepare successfully for their next stage of education.

The book spine below outlines the high-quality texts pupils encounter through our English and whole-class reading curriculum from EYFS to Year 6.

School Library

Alongside our reading scheme, St Peter’s has an extremely well-stocked and regularly refreshed school library. The collection is carefully reviewed to ensure it reflects a diverse and inclusive range of authors, themes and perspectives.

Each class visits the library weekly for Book Club and selects new books to take home and enjoy.  During Book Club sessions,  children share books, listen to a teacher read an excerpt and have the opportunity to choose a reading for pleasure book to take home.

Classroom Libraries

Each classroom contains a carefully curated class library with a range of high-quality fiction, non-fiction and poetry. These collections are regularly refreshed to ensure pupils encounter ambitious and diverse texts, encouraging them to read widely and develop a sustained love of reading. These libraries also contain books that children have previously studied and enjoyed.